June 24, 2023

Strange Objects Found at The Galactic Center Are Like Nothing Else in The Milky Way (Source: Science Alert)
There's something really weird in the center of the Milky Way. The vicinity of a supermassive black hole is a pretty weird place to start with, but in 2020 astronomers found six objects orbiting Sagittarius A* that are unlike anything in the galaxy. They are so peculiar that they have been assigned a brand-new class – what astronomers are calling G objects.

The original two objects – named G1 and G2 – first caught the eye of astronomers nearly two decades ago, with their orbits and odd natures gradually pieced together over subsequent years. They seemed to be giant gas clouds 100 astronomical units across, stretching out longer when they got close to the black hole, with gas and dust emission spectra. But G1 and G2 weren't behaving like gas clouds. "These objects look like gas but behave like stars," said physicist and astronomer Andrea Ghez. (6/24)

China's FAST Telescope Detects Record-Breaking Binary Pulsar (Source: Xinhua)
China's FAST telescope identified a binary pulsar with an orbital period of 53.3 minutes, the shortest known period for a pulsar binary system. The research, mainly conducted by a team led by scientists from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), was published in the journal Nature. (6/23)

SpaceX Launches Dozens of Starlink Satellites From Florida, Recovers Booster (Source: Florida Today)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket leapt from its pad at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and into overcast skies Friday, closing out a packed month of Space Coast launches. The 230-foot rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 40 and flew along a southeastern trajectory before delivering 55 Starlink internet satellites to orbit. The first stage successfully landed on the Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship in the Atlantic, wrapping up its eighth mission to date. (6/23)

Colorado and Alabama Republicans Feud Over Space Command Legislation (Source: Defense News)
House Republicans from Colorado and Alabama engaged in a heated debate Wednesday over whether to include in the fiscal 2024 defense authorization bill construction restrictions on Space Command’s temporary facility in Colorado Springs. Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-AL, in a bid to pressure Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall to make a long overdue basing decision for Space Command’s permanent headquarters, included in the legislation a prohibition on additional construction at the provisional facility in Colorado Springs.

More than two years ago, the Air Force announced Huntsville, Alabama, would serve as the new location for Space Command headquarters. But Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, who represents the Colorado district where the temporary headquarters is located, on Wednesday sought to stop the blockage of additional construction. The House’s defense spending bill contains similar language barring construction at the Colorado Springs facility until a permanent location is chosen. The Appropriations Committee is set to debate that bill on Thursday. (6/22)

House Lawmakers Back Space Force Fees for Use of Launch Ranges (Source: C4ISRnet)
A provision in the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the fiscal 2024 defense policy bill would approve a U.S. Space Force proposal to change the way it charges companies that launch from its ranges. Committee members signed off on the legislation June 22, which proposes $874 billion in defense spending. The full House is slated to vote on the bill in July.

Included in the bill is an amendment offered by Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-CA., that would allow the Space Force to collect fees from companies for the indirect costs of using the military’s launch ranges, like overhead infrastructure or other charges that a traditional port authority might impose on its users. (6/22)

Stars Collided in Galactic “Demolition Derby,” Produced Oddball Gamma-Ray Burst (Source: Ars Technica)
When astronomers spotted a powerful gamma-ray burst in October 2019, the most likely explanation was that it was produced by a massive dying star in a distant galaxy exploding in a supernova. But data from subsequent observations showed that the burst originated with the collision of stars (or their remnants) in a densely packed area near the supermassive black hole of an ancient galaxy, according to a new paper. Such a rare event has been hypothesized, but this is the first observational evidence for one. (6/22)

Mountain of Discarded Clothes in Chilean Desert is Visible From Space (Source: Space.com)
A mountain of discarded clothes in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile has reached such huge proportions that it can be seen from space. Last month, the satellite imagery app SkyFi revealed views from orbit of the pile of clothes that is created as a result of the fast fashion industry, which produces an estimated 92 million tons of waste a year. Included in the clothing mountain are some unusual items, such as ski boots and unwanted Christmas sweaters. (6/22)

SpaceX's Next Starship Prototype Spins Up Engines Ahead of Test Fire (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX is grooming its next Starship vehicle for flight. The company recently conducted an engine test at its Starbase site in South Texas with Ship 25, the upper-stage prototype that will fly the next Starship test mission. The upcoming second test flight will happen soon — perhaps just six to eight weeks from now, provided Ship 25 and Booster 9 tick all their testing boxes and regulatory hurdles don't stand in the way. (6/22)

Virgin Galactic Raises $300 Million, Seeks Another $400 Million to Expand Spacecraft Fleet (Source: CNBC)
Virgin Galactic has successfully raised $300 million via an “at the market” offering of common stock, the company disclosed in a securities filing Thursday. Now, the company aims to raise an additional $400 million through a subsequent stock offering, as it looks to fund the development and expansion of its spacecraft fleet. Shares of Virgin Galactic have rallied since the company announced plans to launch its first commercial spaceflight by the end of this month. (6/22)

Purdue, Space Force Collaboration Introduces High School Students to Careers in Aviation and Space (Source: Purdue)
Purdue’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology is collaborating with the United States Space Force and two Purdue offices to introduce high school students to careers in aviation and space. Forty high school students from 17 states will spend a week on campus this summer for the inaugural program. They will be introduced to unmanned aerial systems, flight operations and air traffic control. They will also learn about the space environment, the importance of the space domain, and education and career opportunities with the Space Force from Space Force Guardians. (6/22)

Maritime Launch Services Buys an Hour of PR From The Globe and Mail (Source: Halifax Examiner)
The Globe and Mail billed the June 21 webcast as “The Space Economy: What could the commercial space age mean for Canada?” Globe and Mail science reporter Ivan Semeniuk hosted and moderated the event, which involved four panelists representing companies or organizations with an interest in all things space-related in Canada. But there was just one “presenting sponsor” for the hour-long webcast, and that was none other than Maritime Launch Services (MLS).

And – surprise! – there was the MLS president and CEO, Stephen Matier, sitting right there, one of four panelists on the webcast that his company sponsored. Which means, no surprise, The Globe’s science reporter didn’t ask a single genuinely journalistic question of Matier. Rather, Semeniuk invited the MLS CEO to speak, unchallenged and without fact-checking, at length about his company, its plans to launch 12 rockets a year from Canso, and all the amazing amounts of money and benefits this will bring to Nova Scotia, to Canada, to the entire planet. (6/21)

Infrastructure Woes Could Slow Big South Pole Telescope Projects (Source: Science)
For decades, the South Pole has been a wonderland for physicists. They have stared into its exquisitely clear sky to study the afterglow of the big bang—the cosmic microwave background (CMB)—and used the ice itself to spot nearly undetectable particles called neutrinos streaking from other galaxies. But plans for two big new projects at the pole could be delayed for years by less lofty infrastructure issues and a limited electrical supply.

The National Science Foundation has warned researchers of a backlog of maintenance that will prevent funding for new projects. This has physicists wondering when NSF will go forward with two major projects that must be built at the pole. One would deploy new CMB telescopes there and the other would expand the gargantuan IceCube neutrino detector. The projects, known as CMB-S4 and IceCube-Gen2, aim to start building within 5 years. (6/22)

NASA’s Mars Sample Return Has a New Price Tag—and it’s Colossal (Source: Ars Technica)
During his final months as the chief of NASA's science programs last year, there was one mission Thomas Zurbuchen fretted about more than any other—the agency's ambitious plan to return rocks from Mars to Earth. He supported the Mars Sample Return mission and helped get it moving through the agency's approval process. But the project threatened to devour the agency's science budget. The problem may be even worse than Zurbuchen imagined.

According to two sources familiar with the meeting, the Program Manager for the mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Richard Cook, and the director of the mission at NASA Headquarters, Jeff Gramling, briefed agency leaders last week on costs. They had some sobering news: the price had doubled. The development cost for the mission was no longer $4.4 billion. Rather, the new estimate put it at $8 to $9 billion. (6/23)